African Pitta (Pitta angolensis) [XC398188]
by Peter Boesman from Mutulanganga area, Southern province, Zambia (song)
African Pitta (Pitta angolensis) [XC41319]
by Peter Boesman from South Luangwa National Park Lodge, Zambia (call)
Subspecies
African Pitta (Pitta angolensis) and Green-breasted Pitta (Pitta reichenowi) (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) are retained as separate species contra Dowsett and Forbes-Watson (1993) who include reichenowi as a subspecies of African Pitta (Pitta angolensis).
Forms a superspecies with Green-breasted Pitta (Pitta reichenowi), and sometimes regarded as conspecific on basis of apparent intermediate birds from Cameroon and southern Congo, but this is doubtful.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
pulih Fraser, 1843 - Sierra Leone and south-eastern Guinea east to western Cameroon.
angolensis Vieillot, 1816 - South-western Cameroon south to north-western Angola.
longipennis Reichenow, 1901 - Breeds from south-eastern Zaire and south-eastern Tanzania south to eastern Zambia, northern and eastern Zimbabwe, southern Mozambique and extreme north-eastern South Africa; migrates north to region from southern Central African Republic and northern and north-eastern Zaire east to southern Kenya and northern Tanzania.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet